Vietnam: A New History by Christopher E. Goscha

Vietnam: A New History by Christopher E. Goscha | Goodreads




Want to Read

Rate this book
1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars


Vietnam: A New History

by
Christopher E. Goscha
3.97 · Rating details · 202 ratings · 36 reviews
A 2017 Cundill History Prize Finalist
"Groundbreaking...Goscha has provided quite simply the finest, most readable single-volume history of Vietnam in English."--Guardian
In Vietnam, Christopher Goscha tells the full history of Vietnam, from antiquity to the present day. Generations of emperors, rebels, priests, and colonizers left complicated legacies in this remarkable cou ...more

GET A COPY
Kobo
Online Stores ▾
Book Links ▾

Hardcover, 592 pages
Published September 13th 2016 by Basic Books (first published June 2016)
ISBN
0465094368 (ISBN13: 9780465094363)
Literary Awards
John K. Fairbank Prize (2017), Cundill History Prize Nominee (2017)

Other Editions (10)






All Editions | Add a New Edition | Combine...Less Detailedit details





FRIEND REVIEWS
Recommend This Book None of your friends have reviewed this book yet.



READER Q&A
Ask the Goodreads community a question about Vietnam



Be the first to ask a question about Vietnam



LISTS WITH THIS BOOK
This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »



COMMUNITY REVIEWS
Showing 1-30
3.97 ·
Rating details
· 202 ratings · 36 reviews





More filters
|
Sort order

Nov 12, 2016Hadrian rated it really liked it
Shelves: history, nonfiction, vietnam
Thoughtful single-volume history of Vietnam which presents a complex picture, more than a blank history page before the arrival of the French and the Americans.

Begins with the Han Dynasty's invasion of the Red River valley in the 1st century BCE and the emergence of what Goscha calls a 'Sino-Viet' elite. Vietnam has been influenced much by its larger neighbor - the Vietnamese language was written with Chinese characters until the 19th century, Buddhism is still popular, and an imperial examination system based on Confucian texts was in place for centuries. It was not until the 10th century CE that the Chinese were routed by the general Ngô Quyền, who formed an independent Viet state.

His successors were not content with that; they expanded their state further south with a combination of military campaigns and rural administration to reach to the Mekong, and 'civilize' Lao, Cham, and other minorities along the way. By the time the French arrived in the mid-19th century, there was already a colonial bureaucracy - the new one just had a French veneer.

Goscha moves through the 20th century at a brisk pace (spending only one chapter on the American intervention), and then Vietnam invaded Cambodia to dislodge the Khmer Rouge, then the Chinese invaded the north, then years of economic scarcity and hundreds of thousands of refugees. After a series of economic reforms and a diplomatic reversal, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, is now a wealthy city, and they much prefer Americans to the Chinese.

The book closes with a few sharp observations on the political future of the CPV, where no one knows what comes after. (less)
flag37 likes · Like · see review



Apr 15, 2018Andrew rated it really liked it
Shelves: vietnam, asian-history
Vietnam: A New History by Christopher E. Goscha is an interesting one volume look at Vietnamese history from its earliest times to the modern day. The book seeks to move away from a Vietnamese history dominated by French and American-centric examinations, and seek a broader history of Vietnam as a geographic concept, and the forces that shaped its modern existence, from internal division, Confucian thought, Buddhism, and French Republican and Marxist thought. All of these forces, internally adapted and applied often by external forces, shaped Vietnam into the nation state it is today.

However, this area was not always a homogeneous state. Vietnam developed in the Southeast Asian sphere, with many people groups and states evolving in different areas. It's early history, like many states, is one of competing tribes and people groups who constantly shift, move, displace and disappear. Modern Vietnam as a concept did not exist at this time. The Chinese under the mythical Han, right up to the Tang dynasty, controlled Northern Vietnam off and on as a province called Jiaozhi. The Chinese rulers of this area sought to export their Confucian ideology and turn Northern Vietnam into an internal Chinese province. China at this time was not a culturally unified state, and the Chinese ruled over many "foreign" peoples as subjects or vassals. Jiaozhi was on the periphery of Chinese control, and the Chinese government utilized local leaders and administrators to rule over local peoples. These administrators were trained in Confucian ideology, but also retained there local identities and religious backgrounds, and peoples in this region often mixed Buddhist and local traditional religions together to form a more Vietnamese style ideology.

To the south of Jiaozhi, a kingdom called Cham arose. It took advantage of its strategic maritime position to develop valuable trading routes with China, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. This kingdom heavily incorporated Hindu and Buddhist traditions from India, mixing them with more local customs. These people were culturally separate from the Vietnamese of the north, and resisted Chinese attempts at expansion into the region. To the south of the central Cham kingdom, the Mekong delta was dominated by a collection of Khmer tribes more related to neighbouing Cambodians than the Vietnamese and Cham peoples of the north. The Chinese led domination of the north lasted for almost a thousand years, and this incubation of Chinese and Vietnamese culture led to a nominally Sinicized elite ruling over a more traditionally minded Vietnamese mass. These local people kept there own culture and religion, and sometimes resisted Chinese domination. The Sinicized elite of Jiaozhi took advantage of the cycle of growth and decay common in Chinese dynastic history to claim independence, and after the collapse of the Tang dynasty, largely succeeded. This new kingdom, called Dai Viet, incorporated both Chinese thought and local traditions to build a cultural distinct Viet polity in Northern Vietnam.

Throughout its history, Dai Viet would attempt its own Imperial expansion by fighting wars of conquest in central-Southern Vietnam, and into neighbouring Laotian and Cambodian kingdoms. It also attempted to maintain its independence from China, as further Chinese dynasties grew and fell, holding off invasions from the mongol-Yuan dynasty, for example. Even so, the Viet began to import Buddhist and Confucian scholars from China in order to build there own national and state-backed ideals. They mixed these teachings with local myths, legends and personalities to form a unique Viet identity that they then tried to export to southern and central Vietnam. At times throughout history, the Dai Viet kingdom began to take the form it would largely hold as a French colony - that of Indochina. Viet military leaders expanded control over southern Vietnam, into Laos, and Cambodia, and tried there hand at cultural dominance in these regions. Far from being a long time puppet of foreign powers, Vietnam has also had its share of imperial expansion and cultural homogenization.

Eventually, the French began to take interest in Vietnam. Catholic missionaries from France and the nearby Philippines (Spanish possession) began to infiltrate Vietnam and convert locals. Viet leaders looked at these incursions as potential threats, and eventually began to crack down on Catholic and other religious minorities to try and centralize Vietnam along Japanese lines - utilizing a unique brand of Confucian paternalism and local customs and myth-building to ideologically control there imperial populations. This led to eventual confrontation with France/Spain, and the French conquest of a region in the south - now called Cochinchina. The French further spread there influence over Cambodia and into Laos, and eventually conquered the entire Indochinese area and creating the colony of Indochina. They split this region into five administrative zones largely based on historical separations - Cambodia, Laos, Cochinchina (the southern Mekong region of Vietnam), Annam (the central region of Vietnam) and Tonkin (the northern region).

The French utilized local mandarin bureaucrats to maintain control over the colony, and at first sought to centralize and "civilize" there colony along French lines. Colonial administrators were at first military figures from the French navy, but soon civilian administration took over. Local Vietnamese peoples were often conflicted on how to act. Cooperation was common, with local bureaucrats, but also with the French puppet monarchy and many modernizers in Vietnam who though France was the best way to modernize Vietnam into a nation-state. These Vietnamese collaborators sought education in the French Empire, going to Paris for education, gaining French citizenship, and trying to apply French models at the local level. A rival school developed that turned to Meiji Japan for ideas. Japan in the 1800's was Asia's first nation to modernize along Western lines, and Japan became a central location for nationalists to study, organize and arm. Many Vietnamese nationalists traveled to Japan, and also to China to assist in nationalist struggles, learn nationalist rhetoric, and study models for development. These two schools bred competing nationalist interests - one centered on France and professing for a slow development and eventual independence within the French Empire as a commonwealth state (much like Britain and its colonies), and the other looking at revolutionary tactics to decolonize the area and expel the French.

Although nationalism did exist in Vietnam, French influence did change much on the ground. Catholicism became more popular. The French began to exploit divisions inside Vietnam to maintain control, empowering local groups like the Hao Hao, and Cao Di religious extremist groups in southern Vietnam. They also divided Vietnam into northern, central and southern regions, much like how Vietnam had been before its Imperial period. The Latinization of the Vietnamese language also occurred at this time, which France sought to use as a language to tie Vietnam into the French orbit, but has the unintentional consequence of making foreign political texts more easily translatable. French texts like those of Rousseau began to be read by nationalist elite, and revolutionary works by Chinese, Japanese, and Communist authors came pouring into the country. French instability after there loss in the Franco-Prussian war in 1871 caused some chaos in the colony, and gave the nationalists the idea that France was a weak ruler, and could not successfully run Vietnam as a state.

This led to increasing revolts by local Vietnamese peoples, followed by crackdowns by the French in a cycle of repression and revolt that only exacerbated thoughts of independence. A major revolt in 1908 was brutally suppressed by colonial forces, killing many hundreds of Vietnamese peasants. This led to both horror and revulsion in Vietnam, and at home as France grappled with the Dreyfus affair and began to move toward more Socialist politics. This led to both an easing of political repression in Vietnam, and a move toward a more radically communist nationalism. French administrators began to promise more lenient rule, and a slow movement toward eventual independence along commonwealth lines. These promises empowered the collaborationist camp, and led to thoughts of internal democratic participation. This however, was a step to far for the French, who denied Vietnamese delegates the right to make decisions internally for the colony, and eventually disenfranchisement of nationalists who sought cooperation with France.

As WWII got underway, France was quickly invaded by the Nazi's, and Petain supporters gained power in Vietnam. The Japanese swiftly moved in to Vietnam to take control of its geostrategic location, and at first utilized local French administrators who were sympathetic to nationalistic style rule. However, as WWII came to a close in 1945, the Japanese sought to oust the French and turn Vietnam independent (albeit under Japanese control), forming the short lived Empire of Vietnam, run by France's puppet Emperor turned nationalist. This state was short lived, but lit a fire in terms of Vietnamese national consciousness. The Empire reorganized states, merged the three separate colonies into one entity, and implemented new political elite from local peoples. After Japan lost the war, there soldiers remained in Vietnam. The allies sought to disarm them, and French troops moved into the South, while Chinese nationalist troops took the North. The Chinese had no interest in seeing a resurgent French colony, and empowered local Nationalists along the lines of China's internal party at the time. The French sought to reestablish there authority in the region in order to retake there colonial empire.

A third party existed at the time; the communists under Ho Chi Minh. The communists began to operate in Vietnam as part of the broader nationalist front, and cooperated closely with Soviet internationalist Comintern directive. They cooperated largely in China's united front against Japan, and received training, arms and material in Chiang Ki-Sheck's military academies in southern China. The communists in Vietnam sought to seek wider power through cooperation with nationalist forces in a united front against French forces. They participated in the war with Japan, and China installed Ho Chi Minh in power in Vietnam in order to combat Japanese troops on his southern flank. Although the Chinese considered removing the communists from power as there war with the Chinese Communists flared up, they largely left them in power due to lack of ability to oust them, and the rapidly decaying situation at home. This led to a briefly unified Vietnam under a nationalist coalition. However, ideological differences saw more right leaning nationalists to seek French aid in ousting the Communists, leading to the occupation of southern Vietnam by French forces eager to reestablish there colonial presence. This led to a split in Vietnam, as the communists cemented power in the North, and the French in the south.

The two Vietnam's came to participate in the larger conflagration between the USSR and USA on a global scale. The Americans propped up French Vietnam as a better alternative to Northern communist Vietnam. The Northern state was largely supported by Soviet and Chinese communist forces after they took power in 1949. The French were largely against a unified Vietnam unless under French control, and vetoed any attempt by the Americans at building a coalition system based on democracy. Instead, the Americans sought to avoid French hostility in their need to build a larger European alliance aligned against the USSR. The French terms were control in Vietnam. Evens so, the North began to crack down internally on dissidents and build a communist state based on collectivist and Maoist principles. They then initiated guerilla warfare against the south, as France began to maneuver to retake their old colonial territory. This war became costly for the French, who were also dealing with colonial chaos in their other colonies in Africa. As Vietnamese forces began to turn the French back, and eventually defeated the French in the historic battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the French began to seek an exit.

This exit alarmed the Americans, who had been funding about 80% of the cost of the French's war with the Communists. The Americans began to take a greater role in southern Vietnam, first propping up the South as a rival regime, and then sending in advisors and eventually combat troops into Vietnam. This happened over a longer period. The south Vietnamese state began to take shape as a authoritarian style state in the vein of Taiwan and South Korea, two other American backed states in Asia. South Vietnamese politicians attempted developmentalist reforms along these lines, initiating there own rival land reform schemes, and seeking aid and assistance from Western backers. However, a lack of centralized control in south Vietnam led to corruption, and the growth of rival power groups in the Buddhist community, and in extremist splinter groups like the Cao Di and the Hao Hao. The south Vietnamese government began to crack down on these dissident groups, but this backfired as chaos began to reign in the south. This allowed the Northern state to being its infiltration of the south, setting up rival administrations in rural areas, and contesting southern control in various regions. It also caused the Americans to lose faith in their puppet, and initiate a coup d'etat and install a military government.

Increasing hostility between the north and south led to open warfare, as the North sought to reunite the nation through force of arms, and the Americans sought to keep them apart. The US commitment to this region began to accelerate into open warfare, as the US eventually sent many hundreds of thousands of soldiers into Vietnam, and committed massive amounts of money and material to the war. Millions of Vietnamese would lose there lives in this war, which led to terrifying bombing campaigns, and inter-communal violence across Vietnam and into Laos and Cambodia. The North came out ahead through its use of guerilla tactics and declining American interest in the war, leading eventually to the evacuation of US troops in 1975 and the annexation of south Vietnam by the North. Communist regimes also took power in Cambodia and Laos.

Vietnam after 1975 began to utilize communist ideology to try and integrate the culturally distinct south into a new unified sphere. The south had spent decades as a separate entity, with a larger degree of Western influence, commodification of the economy, and susceptible to greater global influences. The North sought to disrupt this by nationalizing the powerful Chinese merchant lobby in the south, and reeducating thousands of local bureaucrats and administrators. Land reform also took place, although this was less disruptive than in China due to the south's previous expirements and success with developmentalist land reform. A growing Sino-Soviet split in the late 70's, however, led to increasing tensions in southeast Asia. Vietnam had sought to support its communist brethren in Laos and Cambodia, but Cambodia's Khmer Rouge would have none of it. This genocidal group was largely backed by China for its more nationalistic brand of Communism, while Laos and Vietnam increasingly cooperated and were backed by the Soviets. The Vietnamese timed there crackdown on the Chinese community in Vietnam with growing tensions with Deng Xiaoping's modernizing China, which was increasingly improving ties with the West. This led to open warfare between Vietnam and China in 1980, as Chinese troops entered Vietnam, and swiftly occupying northern Vietnam before departing. Vietnam got the message, and its attempts to influence other southeast Asian nations and its hostility to the Khmer largely ended and Vietnam began to focus inwardly.

From 1991 onward, Vietnam has begun to develop along Chinese lines. While largely holding power to this day, the Communist government has begun to espouse more market-orientated development strategies while maintaining centralized political control. This development has slowly turned Vietnam into another "Asian Tiger." Even so, it has maintained its hostility to China, and has largely warmed ties with the US, who seek to use Vietnam's important naval bases to increase their control over the south China sea. Vietnam retains border disputes with China in this coastal area, as well as with other states in the region. Vietnam has faced similar problems with this rapid development. Nationalism largely aimed at Chinese businesses and residents in prevalent. Hostilities and disputes do remain with some of its neighbours. Corruption is an issue due to the centralized nature of the Vietnamese government, and the retention of power by the Communist elite. Even so, Vietnam's rapid development has brought many out of poverty, while increasing internal pressures to increase individual rights and political participation. Vietnam has maintained a cult around Ho Chi Minh, who is in state in a similar fashion to Lenin in Russia and Mao in China.Clearly the history of Vietnam continues to develop in an interesting fashion, with internal struggles, rivalries and successes continuing to play out into the future.

Goshcha has written an excellent account of Vietnamese history, focusing on internal Vietnamese factors, and largely disputing the exceptionalist versions of Vietnam that show them as as a homogeneous people dominated by evil foreign empires in from China and the West. Contrary to this, Vietnam has largely developed as separate and competing states and people groups, and has had its own experimentation with Imperial domination and attempts at cultural assimilation. This book is a great and relatively concise read on the subject of Vietnamese history, and touches on aspects of politics, global history, economics, and cultural and social changes. This is a great modern history on Vietnam as a nation. Although lacking in depth in some areas, especially Vietnam's history during its Dai Viet period, this book is largely concise, inward looking, and thoughtful. Not to be missed by those who wish to brush up on a modern account of Vietnamese history. (less)
flag17 likes · Like · 7 comments · see review



May 07, 2017J.M. Hushour rated it it was amazing
I'm no SE Asia specialist, but this is easily one of the best histories of a state/region I've read over the last few years reading a history of every country in the world.
I'm sure there are those who will find something to gripe about, no matter what their political stripe. After all, that's what that stripe is for (much like a skunk). For the layfolk, this is a grand book, balancing enough ancient past for precedent's sake with enough modern stuff, thankfully giving the Second Indochinese War (here in the States, we call it 'Nam or, "the shit") a decent, respectable section without going overboard. As for political balance, I think Goscha does his best with what will prove to be an area of study possessed of an interminable sense of controversy. The war was fucking terrible and he makes that clear, and all sides share in the blame.
What I liked best was his approach to Vietnam itself, as a state, finding the whole idea of "European colonialism" sufficient in one sense but one-sided in another, for Vietnam itself was very much a colonial state. The S-shape came from Nguyen conquests all the way done to the Mekong and back. Folks in the highlands were colonized and Vietnized just as the Viet were Frenchified and colonized. (The French come out the worse in all this.)
Nothing is as clear cut. Diem was just as rank and guilty of despicable acts against his own people as much as Ho Chi Minh was. America's SE Asia policy was horrible, but so was China's, and Goscha spends some time discussing the third wave of conflict in the area involving Cambodia and Vietnam.
Overall, a great book. The highland peoples and Viet culture only get one chapter each, near the end, but as it is largely a political narrative, I found that acceptable. (less)
flag6 likes · Like · comment · see review



May 24, 2017Mike Flores rated it it was amazing
VIETNAM A New History lives up to its title. For the first time we discover all sides of the conflict, that's right, we get Vietnam's side,too. Both the North and the South and the groups at play in both.

The book takes us on a journey through Vietnam's history ands it turns out we were only one of many who had problems in the region. The book even shows us how disaster could happen again. As China and the U.S. tries to understand how to deal with each other this book becomes urgent. Best history of Vietnam I have ever read and author Christopher Goscha is now the top Vietnam historian.

For the first time, all sides of Vietnam. Including Vietnam's. (less)
flag2 likes · Like · comment · see review



Jun 02, 2018Martin Lowery rated it really liked it
I enjoyed the way the author told the history of Vietnam, but he spent the last 50 pages covering Vietnam from 1954, until the modern day, condensing crucial history regarding the war with America.

Otherwise, the historical perspective the author provides shows that the differences and animosity between the North and South Vietnam had been going on since the 18th century. America may have played these animosities against each other, but they didnt start the war that was already brewing for 100 years. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Aug 09, 2017Peter A rated it really liked it
Shelves: current-affairs, history
Growing up in the United States in the late 1960’s, Vietnam received a lot of coverage. Being a male of a “draftable” age, it also focused me a great deal on Vietnam. After I visited Vietnam for the first time in 2007, I started forming new impressions of the country and its people. Subsequent visits only increased my desire to learn more about Vietnam. When I started looking for books about the country, most of what I uncovered focused on the period of the late 60’s and early 70’s. Finally, I discover the book by Christopher Goscha, and read several reviews that were all very positive. Thus, I read it.

Overall this book is very insightful and well researched. As the subtitle of the book states, and the author argues in his opening pages, that given recent research it is time to write a new history. “It still takes into account this country’s position in a coveted part of the world where empires collide, but it also emphasizes Vietnam’s own role in shaping its history and highlights the country’s extraordinary diversity and complexity. Most importantly, it emphasizes that there has never been one Vietnam but several remarkably varied ones.”

The author presents a very interesting perspective about Vietnam, through focused chapters and how narrates the chapters. In each chapter, he also provides a very nice lead section that help illustrate what we are going to discover in the chapter.

After reading the book and the insights therein, my view of Vietnam has deepened. In many ways, Vietnam is a mixture of cultures; not just of the French influence, but more importantly of the multiple groups that populated Vietnam over at least the last two thousand years. Vietnam is a story of how one group, the Viet, ultimately expanded from the north and “colonized” the rest of what we now know as Vietnam (and of course the influence into Laos and Cambodia). The current national boundaries are relatively recent (say 1940’s). It is also the story of nationalism, strong desire to be independent of France, US, and China, of the different approaches (republicanism from the French, communism from the Soviet Union and China) to state building and statecraft. The book also shows the ugly side of politics gone awry, the plunge into the Vietnam war without thinking about the consequences – an important lesson for today - for not wanting to back down; and how global politics can play out and influence local issues.

I very much appreciated the final chapter and conclusion. The final chapter, “Vietnam from Beyond the Red River”, talks about the many other ethnic groups that are part of the larger story. The conclusion, “Authoritarianism, Republicanism, and Political Change” points to the ongoing dynamics that continue to influence Vietnam into its future, with a hint of the staying power of republicanism in the Vietnam.

A note to the author: I appreciate the maps and the brief summary of abbreviations. I wish there were an annotated list of “key characters”, with an indication of when and where they appear in this story.

A note to potential readers: You will learn a great deal from this book. However, there are many details (and names), and you may feel overwhelmed with these details.

Other Books: Since 2015 at least three books with a more comprehensive look at Vietnam has been published.

Current Book: Vietnam: A New History, Christopher Goscha (published September 2016, 592 pages)

Two other books that look interesting and seem to have very good reviews are
Viet Nam: A History from Earliest Tim, Ben Kiernan (published March 2017, 656 pages, https://www.amazon.com/Viet-Nam-Histo...
and
Descending Dragon, Rising Tiger: A History of Vietnam, Vu Hong Lien and Peter Sharrock (published January 2015, 272 pages)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1780233647/...

I would be interested to hearing from those who read any of these books, or others.


(less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Apr 12, 2017Keen rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is a fairly exhaustive and extensive account of modern Vietnam and is clearly the work of a skilled authority, backed up with a whole myriad of research. Goscha has done a fine job of tracking the history from the early settlers through to colonialism, colonial collaboration, colonial expansion, through various warring dynasties and demonstrates how seemingly outside events like the Opium Wars and the Cold War came to impact on Vietnamese shores. He traces the horrendous events of the 20th century through three Indochinese conflicts and the eventual Modernisation.

Goscha illustrates how the legacy and influence of around 1000 years of Chinese rule and around 80 years of French rule have been absorbed to help create the Vietnam of today. He describes the Nguyen state era, with compelling characters like Minh Mang. We see how Confucianism, Catholicism and Buddhism fought for supremacy amidst an ever shifting political, religious and territorial landscape. He also shows us how the country managed to form and shape its own culture, partly through the long standing Sino-Franco influence but how they transformed an identity of their own with the introduction of the Quoc Ngu script. We see that the Vietnam as most of the world knows it has never really existed for long as one, united nation.

The US apparently subsidised around 80% of France’s campaign against Vietnam during the first Indochina War before getting involved directly and causing the Second Indochina War (or Vietnam War). I was unaware that an estimated 5000 to 15000 people were murdered by the communists during the 50s before the US intervened. It was a harsh regime which encouraged children to spy on their parents and neighbours to denounce each other. Apparently both North and South Vietnam indulged in human rights abuses, arbitrary arrests, torture, censorship, executions, forced labours and use of concentration camps before the Americans got involved.

Goscha produces the horrifying facts and stats about the hugely imbalanced Vietnam War and the appalling consequences, particularly for innocent civilians and minority hill tribes. The legacy of the war continued for years afterwards with hundreds of thousands of boat people fleeing to places like the US, Canada, France and Australia. It took the reforms of 1986 to eventually lead the country into taking some large, though measured and limited steps towards capitalism and the nation seems to have grown steadily since then eventually becoming the 3rd largest exporter of rice in the world and the 2nd biggest producer of coffee.

This was an interesting read that should please scholars and the history/Vietnam enthusiast alike. There were times when it was maybe a little too dry and detailed, but that’s sometimes the price you have to pay for such a well-researched and detailed work. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Jul 27, 2017Howard rated it liked it · review of another edition
On the positive side, I now know a huge amount more about how Vietnam developed into the unitary state that it became, for the first time, after 1975, and how the regional tensions within the country persisted over several centuries (and probably right up to the present time). And my knowledge of the pretty disastrous French colonial period has gone from practically nothing to a reasonable amount, as has my awareness of how Ho Chi Minh and the DRV interacted with the Chinese and Soviet states from the 1920s until the end of the twentieth century.

But, I have to say it was immensely hard going at times. One of the problems being that keeping track of Vietnamese names was (for me) almost impossible. Another that the author seems to abhor data, so there are very few figures to help get the reader's mind immersed in the practical development of modern Vietnam. Additionally, despite being almost 500 pages long, Goscha's history seemed to me to be rather lacking in detail relating to where the actual power lay at various periods -- particularly the four decades since unification -- and how that power has been wielded, and what the reaction of the Vietnamese people has been to all this.

Informative, yes. Big holes in the narrative, however, and not exactly an enjoyable read (less)

---------



Hilton Yip 6 December 2016 Non-Fiction, Reviews
“Vietnam” by Christopher Goscha


Vietnam is often featured in Western media and culture as the battleground where the US actually lost a war in the 20th century. This is unfortunate because it obscures a fascinating Southeast Asian nation that is now on the cusp of significant economic growth and prosperity. Vietnam: A New History presents a more comprehensive account of the country by explaining how it came about, originating as a collection of tribal entities in the north over two thousand years ago that coalesced into kingdoms that gradually expanded, combined, and suffered colonization by the French before becoming united in the 20th century after a brutal war with the US.

Yet the story of Vietnam cannot be told without highlighting the significant influence, and interference, of outside actors, whether indirect rule and cultural influences from China, colonization by France or war with the US. As a local student guide told me when I visited the country a few years ago, “We fought the Chinese for a thousand years, the French for 100, and the Americans for 20.” There was no boastfulness or arrogance in her remark, just a matter-of-factness that reflected the country’s turbulent past, coveted by a much larger neighbor and powerful Western nations.

But Vietnam had not always been an innocent victim: it expanded by taking over and absorbing weaker kingdoms like the Cham and waging war against the neighboring Khmers. Vietnam had its origins in the Red River region near Hanoi, its expansion south was a continual process over several hundred years from the 15th century that gradually saw Vietnam take its modern shape. The fact that part of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta was actually taken from neighboring Khmer, the precursor of what is now Cambodia, hundreds of years ago is a reminder that European powers were not the only ones in world history to colonize and conquer.Vietnam: A New History, Christopher Goscha (Basic Books, September 2016; Allen Lane, June 2016)

Though Vietnam has a history stretching back well over a thousand years, it only really came into being as a single entity a couple of centuries ago when the emperor Gia Long declared a unitary state in 1802. Most of the book is devoted to the time from this period on to Vietnam’s colonization under the French, and the 20th century, with the more that one thousand years of pre-French colonization period condensed into the first two chapters.

The section covering the French colonial era is comprehensive, covering various aspects from the economy to societal make-up. These chapters are actually the book’s most informative, especially as in contrast with the US-Vietnam War, about which a lot of literature and film has been and continues to be produced, the French colonial period is not well known or often covered in Western media, even—as the author stresses—in France.

There is also a good account of Vietnam’s place on the international geopolitical stage, first as a useful tool of the colonial era as France sought to hold onto its dwindling international prestige and obstruct Vietnamese self-rule to prevent its other colonies from getting similar ideas, and then as an actor during the Cold War. The short-sightedness of the French in giving the Vietnamese as few political rights as possible meant that it was almost inevitable that their rule would be violently resisted and decisively cast off. Even after 100 years of colonization, French rule is hardly remembered with much nostalgia, if any at all, though signs of their influence remain: coffee, baguettes, and colonial cathedrals and opera houses.

The French only formed a tiny part of the population, numbering at most only in the tens of thousands but retaining the top positions in administration for themselves. The French ruled Vietnam not as a single colony, but divided into three parts: Tonkin (the north), Annam (the central) and Cochinchina (the south). The French also colonized and annexed neighboring Laos and Cambodia, and later tried to rule these two plus their three Vietnamese colonies as a united entity. This resulted in Vietnamese resistance taking on a regional scope as they supported fledgling Cambodian and Laotian resistance movements while ironically, the French sought to use Vietnamese talent to help administer those two colonies.

Not surprisingly, France’s colonization led to growing sentiment for Vietnamese unification which is where the rise of Ho Chi Minh and the Communists come into play. The invasion by the Japanese and the temporary ousting of French rule during World War II provided the chance for Ho and his Communist followers to create the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in 1945, thus setting the stage for all-out war with the French and the division of Vietnam into north and south. After the French pulled out following their shock military defeat by the Communists at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, war between the two Vietnams then followed, leading to US intervention and the devastating, drawn-out war many of us are most familiar with.

This is when Vietnam’s place in modern history as much more than just a French colony becomes assured. For the French and the US, it was where they suffered their worst defeats in war and accelerated the decline of the former as a global force. Concurrently, the rise of Ho’s Communist regime led to the country becoming a participant in the Cold War as the US and the Soviet Union contested global supremacy, which was then complicated by tensions between the latter and China. After defeating the Americans, Vietnam would fall out with China, while attempting to maintain its influence in neighboring Laos and Cambodia. War with Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge led to invasion from China in 1979, and despite forcing the Chinese back, Vietnam would endure international ostracism in the ensuing decade, with China aided in this by the US.

Goscha’s last chapters detail Vietnam’s economic modernization as it turned away from Communist central planning, following its neighbor China, while still grappling with maintaining authoritarian control, a challenge that is ongoing and also mirrors China.

The many wars and conflicts of the 20th century that Vietnam went through were a continuation of its past as a complex, turbulent but resilient country that managed to survive while continually resisting outside actors such as its giant northern neighbor and Western powers, while itself subjugating weaker neighbors.

Despite the summary treatment of Vietnam’s first millennium which is squeezed into just two chapters, as a history of modern Vietnam, the book is a worthy addition to this sparse category.
Hilton Yip is a writer currently based in Hong Kong and former book editor of Taiwan’s The China Post.